The Stars Make Me Sad
by Lady Weasleyy
Summary: Draco can't figure out why Hermione would bother going outside at night when she very well knows the rules - being Head Girl and all. Deciding that he'd rather know than continue not talking to her, he follows her. "It's difficult being here without Harry and Ron. They were the only ones who could understand why I'm out here." ... "Try me."


A/N: This story is not related to "Her Planet" but it does have to do with Astronomy, if you look kinda closely. :) I'm working on "The Enemy's Housewife" and I'm picking up "Quite A Surprise" this week!

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It was a very dark and cold winter night. Of all the people to be outside, he wasn't the one you'd expect. Then again, the person he was following wasn't exactly who you'd expect to break rules or anything either. It was far too late for even the Head Girl to be outside. But as Head Boy, he had no choice but to find out what was going on. Or that's what he told himself, anyways, for a reason to follow her.

She led him around the black lake before she sat down under a tree, resting her back against it and closing her eyes. He stayed in his covered location, behind another tree not far off, and watched for a few minutes. When she hadn't moved at all and he was growing impatient, he made his way over to her and sat down beside her.

"What are you doing?" He asked patronizingly.

She started with a gasp and turned to face him. "I just needed some air." She supplied.

"Right. At one in the morning?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at her sardonically.

"Perhaps. What're you on about, Malfoy?" She snapped, crossing her arms. She had just wanted to relax for a moment, away from the school, and away from him.

"I'm wondering why you chose the night you knew I was awake to try and sneak out." He replied, leaning his side against the tree so he could face her. She did not follow suit, however, and returned to her original position.

"It's difficult being at school without Harry and Ron. They were the only ones who could understand why I'm out here."

"Try me."

Hermione glanced at him, and found him looking very serious, if not a bit concerned, too.

"I don't like the Head's Dormitories." She said finally.

"What? Why?" Draco asked. The dorms were brilliant. Sure, he felt a bit guilty to have such grand rooms compared to everyone else. But only a bit. He was still a Slytherin after all, and they enjoyed having the best of everything.

"After living in the tent for all of those months with the boys, well.. It just feels wrong. Like I now understand how some people are forced to live. And here we are living in the grandest rooms I've ever seen." She frowned and looked at the grass as she ran her hands through and over it.

"Hm."

"I don't know why I chose to come outside, though." She admitted. "The stars make me sad."

"Pardon?" He almost laughed, but had a feeling it wouldn't go over well. This was the first time in the two months school had been back in session that she'd really talked to him. He tried to explain the past, and she had said she accepted it. But they were never suspected to have a future of being friends.

"Every night we would take turns wearing the locket horcrux, and sit outside on watch." She explained, unable to look at him. "All we'd have to look at were trees, or the night sky. I got used to observing them change, remembering the constellations and such from Astronomy. But I also got used to watching them and wondering if I was going to make it through tomorrow."

Draco let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding when she added, "I saw your constellation frequently.."

"Is that good or bad?"

"Before the Manor it was bad. But then I considered it almost..." She trailed off, blushing, and thanking the moon for being nearly gone and not shining much light on her red cheeks.

"What?" He asked, lifting a hand to rest it on her shoulder.

She looked at his hand and it almost seemed to give her some kind of confidence. She turned her entire body towards him, but didn't make any move to push his hand away. Instead, it ended up slipping down her arm, to her wrist where he wrapped his fingers around her hand.

"We came to realize that you perhaps saved us. Yes, it may not seem a huge feat to keep the truth from someone." She said hastily as he tried to protest. "But it bought us time, which Harry needed to call Dobby and Aberforth." She wasn't sure if this was making loads of sense to him, but kept on anyways. "So when I saw the constellation, it was kind of like... and you mustn't make fun of me for this.."

"I won't." Draco shook his head, watching her intently.

"It was kind of like you were watching out for us, being a part of the Death Eaters when you obviously wanted to help us instead. Like we had a spy."

"You did." Draco whispered.

"No-one ever said.."

"I only told Kingsley. He was the only one I could get in touch with. Since the Death Eaters took over the Ministry, I had been forced to tag along and managed to contact him."

Hermione's eyebrows had risen at the beginning of his explanation, but it was making more sense now, he could tell.

"Why didn't you say anything?" She asked quietly.

He frowned and lifted his left hand. "You saw it." He murmured, pushing his sleeve back as he let go of Hermione's hand. His dark mark was fading, but still visible. "I doubted you'd believe me."

She didn't really know what to say, so she just avoided looking at his arm. Instead, she watched his face as he regarded the dark mark.

"Why did you believe me?" He asked, suddenly lifting his head to meet her eyes.

"I always wanted to believe you were good.." She said, smiling almost sadly. "It's not as though I sat around hoping Harry and Ron were right about you."

Draco gave a deep chuckle and Hermione smiled brightly.

"Are we going to be friends, Draco?"

He looked at her, and Hermione had the odd feeling that he was seeing straight into her.

"I'd like that, Hermione."

He held a hand out as he stood to help her up. "I mean," He added as they began heading back inside, "If I have to live with you, I may as well not want to hex you, or vice versa."

She rolled her eyes, but grinned up at him.

"I see you've finally realized how much better I am at hexes than you." She remarked.

"Oh, please."


End file.
